


Go Fish

by Ankh



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-02 16:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ankh/pseuds/Ankh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Daniel talk, joke around, and generally bond after Jack, Teal'c and Sam return to the SGC. (Takes place after Season 3, beginning of Season 4)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Go Fish

"I said rest for at least a week. I insist."

Once again Daniel was lying on a bed in the infirmary with Doctor Fraiser examining him - less than two hours since the last examination. The doctor had practically hauled him off to the infirmary after SG1 had left the briefing room. All he'd done was linger in the room, briefly holding his side, and Fraiser had pounced. If he hadn't been so stunned after hearing the team's report he might have been quicker on his feet and managed to make his escape.

As he tucked his t-shirt back into his pants, making sure the fabric was smoothed over his healing scar, he considered several strategies to get his own way. He looked up at the doctor, wondering if he could possibly convince her that really, he was fine, and barreling his way past two big guys as he raced to the gate room had been a piece of cake with no repercussions, despite evidence to the contrary. It was only a few spots of blood for cryin'...oops. Channelling Jack, there. Strategies. Hmm. Sometimes widening his eyes worked. Also pouting could be pretty effective. It worked on Jack. And the nurses.

Fraiser was watching him, her face wearing the 'serious doctor' expression that made any ideas of pouting or big eyes fly out of the window. She was also clearly awaiting a protest and prepared to do battle, her barriers up.

OK. So not today. Maybe tomorrow.

"Thank you," he said meekly, on his best behaviour.

Not as hardened as she liked to appear, Doctor Fraiser's voice softened as she said, coaxingly, "Just stop trying to undo all my good work. Take it easy. Now that there's no need to go racing off to welcome the rest of your team back, do you think you could possibly rest for more than an hour at a time?"

"Daniel, are you making trouble?"

Daniel's head whipped round at the sound of that familiar voice. "Jack. Uh...no. I'm being the perfect patient."

There was an inelegant snort from Doctor Fraiser. Suppressing her amusement, she nodded at Colonel O'Neill and raised her eyebrows at Daniel as a gentle reminder to heed her words before leaving the two men and going to deal with other, less bothersome, patients.

"Sooo..." Jack said, hands shoved into his pockets. He rocked back and forth a little, clearly uncomfortable with being in the infirmary but trying to hide the fact beneath a casual pose.

"Yeah." Daniel took in the clothes Jack was wearing. "You've been cleared already?"

"Checked out A-OK before I was de-briefed. Report's written up, Hammond's cleared me so I'm officially on leave."

"You're leaving now?"

"There's a fish with my name on it." Jack paused, studying his friend, who was rearranging his t-shirt into a more comfortable position in his pants. "Hey, you know, I need to relax. You need to relax. Fishing is relaxing. I bet you could come with me and we could..."

"Colonel."

Both men jumped guiltily.

"You called?" Jack asked, exuding innocent enquiry.

"This fishing trip of yours. Would it by any chance involve a long journey? For instance in a car?"

"Sure. Though the way I drive we'd be there in... Oh."

"Not exactly the rest Doctor Jackson needs right now. Enjoy your holiday, colonel." Having made her point, Doctor Fraiser walked off.

"I wish she wouldn't do that," Jack said, frowning after the woman. "She has that extra-sensory mom thing. Moms always know when you're up to no good."

"I guess Cassie helped hone the skill or something. So." Daniel looked down at his abdomen, glaring at the scar hidden by the cotton t-shirt. "Looks like I won't be going fishing."

"There's always next time." Jack paused, watching as Daniel swung his legs to the side so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Can I see your scar now?"

Daniel stared.

"I did save the planet. Again," Jack said, his expression hopeful.

Daniel frowned, considering the request as Jack gave him an appealing smile and exuded O'Neill charm. "OK. I guess so."

Jack reached for his friend's t-shirt impatiently, tugged it out of the way and peered. "Wow. Perfect. The doc is good."

"The other side," Daniel said with a small smile.

"I knew that." Jack was more careful this time as he lifted the t-shirt, revealing that he had indeed been teasing. Careful fingers traced around the scar from the appendectomy. Both men peered down at it.

"Huh." Jack leaned over to peer more closely. "Is it supposed to be that color? It's not very big."

An approaching marine turned sharply on his heel and headed back out of the infirmary.

Daniel slapped his friend's hand aside and tugged his t-shirt down again.

Jack gave a sly smile while Daniel faked a pout. It was a familiar game. "OK. I'll play nice. Let's have another look."

Daniel glared.

"Come on. I saved the planet from Lego bugs. And I had to put up with Carter's theories on what was happening here with the other gate." Jack closed his eyes at some memory and shuddered. "For a whole week. It was horrible, Daniel. She kept throwing stuff about sub-atomic particles at me. There was no place to run, nowhere to hide. And she had the GDO."

Daniel relented, heaved a long-suffering sigh and lifted up his t-shirt again.

Jack examined the scar, his eyes narrowing as they took in the signs of recent trauma. "Is it supposed to be that red?"

Daniel wouldn't meet Jack's stare and he shifted, uncomfortable beneath those penetrating dark eyes. "Sure. It's still new."

Jack continued to stare at his friend until the other man's eyes met his. "Daniel?" he asked, a warning note in his voice that told his friend he'd better tell him the truth and tell it now or he was going to...going to...well, he wouldn't be very pleased with him and there was a possibility of severe words. And he'd tell Teal'c and Carter and then Daniel would be sorry.

"What would you have done, Jack?" Daniel asked pointedly. That gaze, usually so direct, dropped and Daniel ducked his head as echoes of the fear he had been feeling for the past week came surging back, flooding him with remembered terror, despite the fact Jack was here, relatively unscathed and alive. He swallowed convulsively, hands clenching in his lap as he tried to push the memory aside, tried not to think about the nightmare images of this man, this friend and his other friends crying out in pain and terror as Thor's ship burned up around them.

He'd known how they planned to escape when the gate disappeared but uncertainty had helped the fear to grow, invading his dreams so he couldn't find rest, insidious fingers of doubt threading through his thoughts so he could find no peace - no rest to be found until they had arrived back home. He'd been so overwhelmed by relief and unwanted sentimentality that he didn't know what to do, what to say, could only stand there drinking in the sight of them and take his cue from Jack. And Jack had been so like his normal self that it had grounded Daniel, saving him from embarrassing himself and embarrassing them all with an excessive display of emotion.

Just as well he hadn't known then what he had learned from the debriefing.

They could have been killed. And Daniel hadn't been with them.

Witnessing his friend's reaction to his own words, knowing exactly what thoughts were running through that brilliant mind, Jack considered the question Daniel had asked. Reversing their roles, he imagined what it must have been like, not knowing whether his friends were dead or alive, waiting for the sound of the klaxon that told of incoming travelers and praying that they had all arrived home safely. He closed his eyes and acknowledged defeat. With a sigh he sat next to Daniel on the side of the bed, head cocked as he looked at his friend, seeing the shadows that darkened the other man's eyes. He tilted to the side, bumped his shoulder against Daniel's to get his attention and to pull him out of his nightmare memories then remained like that, leaning into his friend as if that small contact was a reminder that hey, it's OK, I'm here, see, you can feel me right here beside you and it's going to be all right.

His voice gentle, he said, "Yeah, I know. I'd have gone nuts. But we' re home now. So - you're OK? Your scar and...everything?"

Daniel gave a smile and nudged his friend with his shoulder in reciprocation. "Yes, it's OK now." His manner deliberately casual and in a not so subtle effort to change the subject, he asked, "Are the others going fishing with you?" Realizing his t-shirt was hanging loose after Jack's examination, he busied himself with tucking it in while trying to pretend he hadn't been in serious danger of becoming maudlin. Neat once again, he looked up and caught a glimpse of concern in his friend's eyes before Jack realized he was being watched, whereupon he assumed a more casual air that fooled neither of them.

"I doubt it. I think Teal'c is planning to go see his family. He's been kinda subdued lately. When we weren't foraging for food he was doing the Kel'no'reem thing a lot. I think things aren't so great with him and Drey'auc."

"And that's why the - uh - ?" Daniel pointed at his chin and raised his eyebrows.

"I think so."

"So...he thinks it makes him look...sexy? Appealing? He hopes Drey'auc will like it?"

"I really didn't want to ask. But I think there's something like that going on. Maybe a sign that he's Jaffa, free and single?"

"Oh. Like showing he's available for...as a...partner." Daniel considered the possibility, running over what he knew of several cultures that might offer comparisons. His eyes widened as another thought occurred. "Uh. I tried to touch it."

Jack gave a sly grin. "Oh yeah."

"Oh!" Daniel frowned to himself.

"That'll teach you to play with other guys' facial hair," Jack said dryly.

Daniel closed his eyes briefly, his nose wrinkling. "Remind me not to do that again."

"For all we know it's a Jaffa hot spot..." Jack added, clearly enjoying himself. It wasn't often he had Daniel at a disadvantage.

"Jack!" Daniel said, reproof in his voice though there was a twinkle in his eyes.

"All I'm saying is it's times like this I remember he's an alien. I just hope he's happy. The guy needs a little joy in his life."

"It must be hard on Drey'auc and Rya'c too. What about Sam?"

"What about her? There something I should know about?"

"Taking Sam fishing?"

"Oh! Sam and fishing?" Jack smiled at the thought. "What do you think we survived on for the past week? I'll ask but...I don't think so. She 's probably poking around in one of the labs already. You know Carter."

"Ah. Yeah." Daniel stared down at his boots. "I guess you should go now then?"

"Guess so." Jack pursed his lips, head dropping to watch in apparent fascination as his fingers idly tapping against each other in his lap, briefly interlocking then breaking apart. He slid a quick glance at Daniel who seemed to be examining the floor, looked around the infirmary in a disparaging fashion before his attention returned to Daniel - who seemed to have suddenly lost his sparkle. "I could hang out here if you want," he offered.

Daniel smiled at his friend's air of self-sacrifice. "Jack, go fish. Just spare me the tales about the ones that got away. Hockey I can live with. Monster fish I can do without."

"OK." Jack hesitated then put out a hand and ruffled his friend's hair. "Good to see you're looking...healthy."

"Good to have you back, Jack."

"I couldn't really say so before when...you know." Jack shrugged, looking self-conscious.

"I know. Thanks for not hugging me or anything. I was... It would have... I'm...not sure if I could take it just then." Daniel's eyes fixed on Jack and there was a wealth of meaning in his words.

Jack nodded, playing the 'we're not mushy we're macho men' game and giving Daniel a not-sentimental-in-the-least manly pat on the shoulder. "Yeah, well Carter told me about the teasing you got about that whole space monkey thing the last time."

"Actually that wasn't the problem," Daniel said without a hint of guile. "I didn't want a hug because...you smelled terrible, Jack."

Doctor Jackson's cries for help brought Doctor Fraiser racing to the rescue. Damn the man, she'd told him a week! She came to an abrupt halt at the sight that greeted her. Seeing the pillow Colonel O'Neill was wielding was aimed at Daniel's head and facial regions and not the still tender abdomen, she returned to her work and left the boys to their fun.


End file.
